Colorado launches criminal probe into its star forensic analyst Yvonne 'Missy' Woods who 'performed shoddy DNA testing and altered data that sent HUNDREDS of people to jail over her three-decade career'

Daily Mail ^ | 3-7-24 | Ruth Bashinsky

[bigbob]

Colorado has launched a criminal probe into its star forensic analyst Yvonne 'Missy' Woods after 'anomalies' were found in her DNA testing work.

Woods, 60, is under investigation for allegedly performing shoddy DNA testing and altering data. Her work and testimonies have sent hundreds of people to jail over her three-decade career - and now thousands of cases may have to be reopened.

She has worked in her trade for 29 years, and was considered the state's 'gold standard' by colleagues for helping to put infamous murderers behind bars. The shocking discovery was made in November, when the Colorado Bureau of Investigation performed an internal review and found that some of her crucial data was altered or missing. Woods, 60, abruptly resigned.

Police and prosecutors had been relying on the skilled criminal scientist's DNA work. The new scandal surrounding Woods has rocked Colorado and is being considered one of the largest improprieties in the history of forensic DNA testing, experts say.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

DNA evidence alone is usually not the reason jurors reach a guilty verdict.

No, but it is a big one.

Also a big player in the "No DNA, must be innocent" mindset as well.

Juries are made up of people and people do not like to be wrong. And most moral people really would hate to send someone to jail who does not deserve it.

DNA was something the juries have been told, through the media, is a slam dunk sort evidence that means you can not get it wrong. So they rely on it to a ridiculous degree.

[Organic Panic]

Look at her victims